Yea, verily, yea

[madbaker]

I watched Danny Kaye in The Court Jester for the first time this weekend. Rather, it was the first time I'd watched the whole thing through - I'd seen most or all of it in bits and pieces over the years.

The Hollywood nonhistorical costumes, attitudes, technology, etc. generally don't bother me. They weren't making a real attempt to be authentic.

No, what annoyed me was the fencing. Basil Rathbone was the best fencer in Hollywood (and complained about always having to lose, because he played villains). His duels with Tyrone Power and Ronald Colman were things of beauty on the screen. Danny Kaye, for all his talent, was clearly not someone who had practiced stage combat. So the fights were generally "thrust towards the floor and I beat it down further with my sword". Easy to teach but boring - and totally unrealistic, even by stage combat standards.

...I haven't fenced in over fifteen years, but I guess some habits die hard.

Comments

[finickynarcane.livejournal.com]

and you never want to go with me to a costume flick. We all have our thresholds.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

It depends on the movie. I get annoyed at Elizabeth, because it pretended to be a real historical flick and there were so many things wrong, wrong, wrong. With something that doesn't pretend to be authentic, I can often disengage the critical faculties.

(Until after the movie, when I sometimes drive the wife wild with comments.)

[tsgeisel.livejournal.com]

"Even at sixty-four, Rathbone duels as expertly and easily as he did when he was younger. In his autobiography, Rathbone raves about Danny Kaye, writing that his "exceptional talents have always made a deep impression on me." Rathbone adds that Kaye did not rely on his God-given talents for success, but worked very hard, "with an aptitude for assimilating and perfecting anything he decides to accomplish. ... In 'The Court Jester' we had to fight a duel together with saber. I don't care much for saber but had had instruction in this weapon during my long association with all manner of swords. Our instructor was Ralph Faulkner, a very well-known swordsman on the Coast who had specialized in saber. After a couple of weeks of instruction Danny Kaye could completely outfight me! Even granting the difference in our ages, Danny's reflexes were incredibly fast, and nothing had to be shown or explained to him a second time." (In and Out of Character, page 152, 153)"

(from http://www.basilrathbone.net/films/courtjester/)

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the cite! I was discussing the movie in my LJ a couple weeks ago and someone made reference to this, but without any backup.

I like the movie, despite the costumes being fantastical. Although I wouldn't wince at all if they didn't make a big deal about having done serious research!

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I'll certainly grant the reflexes and intelligence; Danny Kaye had loads of physical talent. But much of the back-and-forth was the simple lunge-and-beat as I mentioned above. They didn't try for much that was complex.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I suppose it's possible that the director left the more interesting bits on the cutting room floor...? Hard to know.

[goldenstag.livejournal.com]

Unless it's intentionally bad, I tend to cringe at bad fencing (or sword play) in the movies. I have gotten spoiled by stuff that is actually good in the movies ... and there have been some superb sword-play movies over the years. So you're not alone. The "I hit your sword" or "I hit your shield" school can be a bit crazy-making, since obviously there's no real intent to harm ...